When Amy Hughes M.A. ’08, Ph.D. ’13 first met with a member of Wheaton’s faculty, she was working in youth ministry and wanted to figure out what to do with her desire to teach.

“I will forever be grateful for what Dr. Timothy Larsen ’89, M.A. ’90 said to me in that meeting. ‘Amy, we want you to come study here. Please come to Wheaton.’ To hear him say that was very formational for me,” she says. 

Dr. Hughes completed her master’s degree in History of Christianity, then became the first female theologian at Wheaton to complete a Ph.D., studying historical theology with Dr. George Kalantzis.

She recalls “constantly being given space to take on new challenges, present papers, and conduct research.” One challenge in particular was when Dr. Kalantzis asked her to review a German monograph for a scholarly journal.

Her dissertation argues that women in the early church contributed substantively to early theology. 

“These examples of women living lives of faithfulness allowed people like Gregory of Nyssa to write what he did in terms of theology. It brought women into the room,” she says.

When Amy completed her Ph.D., she applied for a position at Gordon College in Massachusetts. Within days of interviewing, she was invited to join the faculty. 

“To hear that same calling, from my first meeting with Dr. Larsen to the invitation to join Gordon College, was very special,” she says. 

Dr. Hughes’ book, Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second through Fifth Centuries (Baker Academic, 2017), co-authored with Professor of New Testament Dr. Lynn Cohick, will be published in October 2017.